


Shooting Stars and all the Silver Moons

by fluffynarwhal



Series: Theo/Liam Chronicles [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Angst, Blood and Injury, Bottom Liam Dunbar, Explicit Language, Fluff and Smut, Grinding, Hand Jobs, Hurt Theo Raeken, Love Confessions, M/M, Mutual Pining, Top Theo Raeken, Violence, basically i tried to write just smut and ended up with this, death but not really death don't worry, there's crying oops
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-13
Updated: 2019-08-13
Packaged: 2020-08-20 13:21:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20228512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fluffynarwhal/pseuds/fluffynarwhal
Summary: He doesn’t remember much, but Theo knows what death feels like. And he knows what it’s like when Death stares him in the face and offers its hand.Theo remembers Death, and how it freezes time. But Liam still burn, burn, burns like he always will.





	Shooting Stars and all the Silver Moons

**Author's Note:**

> okay so.....this was only supposed to be around 3k words of fluff and smut and basic porn without plot. then my dumb ass got invested and made feelings get involved.   
oops. 
> 
> I know it's not very long, but I feel like I included everything I wanted to. I loved writing this, and I love being part of this universe. The dynamic these two share is so beautiful and frustrating and just.....everything. I've been recently debating on making another AU after this one; a paranormal AU. In this AU, werewolves don't exist, no one dies, but there are super amounts of ghosties. 
> 
> Also, for those of you who are interested in the Larry fandom, I have four stories in the works right now. One will come out in November, one in February, and the other two will come out some time between that. 
> 
> As always, thank you so much for reading and sending me love as i write about our favorite little shits. Leave kudos/comments to make my day. 
> 
> You will notice there's music implemented within the story. Please listen to the songs as you read to get you in the mindset. Each song was chosen to fit the mood of the scene. I've included them here so you can get them ready. The list of songs will be as follows.   
No Good - KALEO   
You Were Never Gone - Hannah Ellis  
Where's My Love - SYML  
I Love You - RIOPY
> 
> Thank you to my beta for reading this thirty minutes ago even though it's like 8 am where she's at. Thank you Katie xxxxx

** No Good - KALEO **

Theo’s fuzzy. His body fuzzy and numb. There are voices around him, speaking in hushed tones around the area. Taking notice into his body, he knows something is wrapped around both his arms and legs. Pain courses through his skin, radiating off him in waves of heat. His leg still hurt like hell, the bullet having been burned out, and seemingly replaced.

Finally, he blinks his eyes open, groaning when he realizes his hands and feet are chained. Something burns against his shoulder, hot and blazing. Theo drops his head to find a needle track in a vein on his arm. It’s new, a single drop of blood still wet.

“Good morning, Theo,” a voice speaks. Theo snaps his head up to find Monroe standing in front of him, hands on her hips, cocky grin off kilter. “Good to see you’re finally awake. Haven’t seen those blue eyes in a few days. I was almost afraid the wolfsbane hadn’t worked.”

“I’m going to rip your throat out,” he growls.

Monroe laughs and sits down on the floor, crossing her legs. “See, the thing is, Theo, the poison’s that slowly working through your body is going to kill you before you even get the chance to lose those chains.”

“Why not just kill me and get it over with?” he asks.

“I never wanted to kill you,” she replies, almost sincerely. “All I wanted was a quick conversation to come to a mutual agreement. Your alpha made that quite difficult.”

“Fuck you,” he spits.

“You’re not really my type, sweetie,” Monroe giggles. Theo rolls his eyes and drops his jaw, resisting the urge to howl. “I’m more of an alpha type, if we’re being honest.”

“Thought you were an old-man-turned-evil type of bitch?” Theo sassed.

“He’s got jokes, this one.” Monroe stands and stuffs her hands in her back pockets. “You know me, Theo,” she grins. “And you also know that poison is coursing through your body at a mile a minute. Wolfsbane is very tricky when it comes to you, isn’t it? I had to find the perfect blend to affect a chimera. The bullet in your leg, however, proved to be a bit more difficult.” She sighs, burdened, almost. “See, I knew to burn it out once we got you hung up, but I guess the more we burned, the longer it lasted. Crazy coincidence.”

Theo blanches, throwing his head back and growling, teeth and claws sheathed. “Fuck you,” he snarls, struggling against the chains that hold his hands and ankles to the wall and floor. He tunes to her heartbeat, and those of the guards that surround the room.

From the outside, he struggles, but he can barely hear Scott’s pulse, Derek’s, and Liam’s. Fuck. _Liam_.

He knew as soon he was captured, there was no way Scott could keep Liam from coming. Theo and Liam had a very tumultuous relationship. One that involved, cuddle sessions in Theo’s bed, family dinner on Saturdays with Liam’s, Scott’s, and Stiles’ families, hand holding when they thought no one was watching, and one too many heated puppy fights with Theo pinning Liam to the ground and jumping away from him when the arousal fills his nostrils.

They weren’t in a relationship.

Hell, most days, Theo wants to strangle the kid, and the sentiment is definitely returned.

But Theo loved Liam like the sun loves the moon and all the shooting stars put together. His heart was Liam’s – well, Tara’s heart – and he was glad to hand it over. Give it to someone who means something, means something to Theo.

Pathetic, is what he is, Theo thinks. He’d never had to deal with feelings when it came to his other interests. He fucked, and he fucked hard. Male, female, non-binary, it didn’t matter. He was attracted to whom he was attracted to, and that was that. Sex was sex, and shared orgasms were just that.

Liam was different. He’s arrogant, eager, and frustrating. But he’s smart, so smart that Theo has to take a second to contain himself. They’d be sitting in Theo’s living room, Liam pouring over a history book and rattling off information like he was there when the event happened. He was kind, kind hearted in every sense of the word. Liam volunteered at the high school and one of the clinics in town to help with kids who also had IED, or experienced similar problems. They’d all meet up at the high school and spend two hours on the lacrosse pitch, learning how to play.

When Theo heard that tidbit from Nolan, he felt his knees buckle and tears at his eyes.

Liam was a monument that Theo couldn’t stop looking at, admiring. He was a moment in time that Theo wanted to capture in a picture, frozen in time. There were many times like that. Moments would freeze, stilling, letting Theo revel in them, if only for a short while. Liam burn, burn, burned beside him, always.

He’s an idiot, and he’s also in love. More than that, however, Theo is an idiot in love and chained up, wishing for any higher power to ensure Liam get himself killed trying to rescue him.

Technically, Theo was the one saving everybody’s ass.

It wasn’t by his own idiotic brain telling him to protect Liam at all costs. Actually, Theo was trying to protect Stiles. Stupid, irritating, condescending Stiles, sitting in the line of fire. The hunters knew wolfsbane wouldn’t hurt a human, which is why they aimed at the dumbass to begin with. It just so happened, Theo saw the hunter raise his arm before the chimera tackled Stiles to the ground, using his own body as a human shield.

The chimera screamed at the rest of the pack to run, pain screaming at his body, while still shoving Stiles and Liam away. Scott tried to help Theo to his feet, but the bullet had lodged itself deep in the back of his thigh, proving him immobile.

One thing he’d never forget, along with many other moments, was the look in Liam’s eyes as Theo pushed him towards the door.

_‘Please don’t make me leave you’_

Theo didn’t know how long it’d been, how many hours, days, weeks passed with him chained like an animal and tortured. What he did know, was the constant stream of new guards and new followers that found their way into Theo’s holding cell. Each face different from the last, even in the haziness Theo found his mind in.

Monroe walks closer to Theo with a clear vial held between her forefinger and her thumb. “You see, Theo, after Johnson started your IV drip, I made sure to give you enough time to change your mind, should you decide not dying a painful death hung up by chains.”

Theo snarls again, growling loudly. He flares his fangs, hissing at her. The woman laughs and tosses the vial into the air, catching it soundly within her palm. “I can’t wait to watch you rot in hell,” Theo spits. Monroe smirks at him and walks just a bit closer.

“I’ll be seeing you there then. Your sister will be glad to have you back,” she purrs, too close to Theo’s body. He lashes out again, almost catching her hand in his teeth.

“I’m going to rip you apart.”

A bright cackle resonates through the air, clinging to Theo’s ears tightly. Monroe shakes her head and places the clear vial on the floor near the cell door. She walks out and locks the door again before turning to the guards. “Give him fifteen minutes. If he doesn’t talk, destroy the vial.”

It takes seven minutes and twenty-seven seconds for Theo to hear his heartbeat. Another thirty seconds and Scott’s is heard, getting closer. Derek closes in tight, right behind Liam and Scott. The guards pick up on Theo’s movement, wondering why he’s getting anxious.

Theo focuses on the quick, steady thump of Liam’s heart. He counts to one hundred first, then doubles back and does it again. IT speeds up from time to time, obvious of a struggle. It evens out again and he can hear footsteps.

Fuck, the time.

Theo glances at the guards who are not paying attention to him, too busy staring down the hall and readying themselves.

Six minutes pass, and there’s no heartbeat to find. Shit.

** You Were Never Gone – Hannah Ellis **

Theo snaps his head in one direction, then another, trying to find the beta’s heartbeat within the tunnels. He hadn’t meant to lose track of it. He just…Theo stops hearing it. His own pulse quickens, a shallow breath escaping from behind his lips. He can’t… fuck. Theo can’t lose him.

“No,” he whimpered, yanking on his chains, pain scorching his body with every second. It wouldn’t be too long before the poison made it to his heart. His hands start to go numb, along with his toes. It creeps up his legs and arms, reaching the root of his body, taking home in his heart.

Theo doesn’t know when he lost consciousness, closing his eyes gently, defeated. But he does remember waking up.

“Come on, dumb ass, open your fucking eyes,” a voice hisses, fingers holding Theo’s face still. He feels thumbs rubbing across his cheek bones, the expanse of his jaw, along his bottom lip. “Please,” the voice whines, chokes, and pulls Theo’s head up. _He’s crying_, Theo registers, doing everything he can to work open his eyes.

Slowly, with wolfsbane still thumping against his body, Theo finally opens his eyes to find Liam towering over him, cradling his head in his hands, tears streaming down the beta’s cheeks.

“Oh, my fucking god,” the boy says, leaning forward and holding Theo’s body against his own, breath ragged and strained. Liam chokes as a sob makes it way through his chest. “Thank god,” Liam cries. Theo reaches up and holds Liam’s shirt, fingers laced through the soft material. “I’m going to get you out of here, I swear to god,” Liam sniffles, trying to gather Theo in his arms to carry him.

Theo pushed Liam away slightly, coughing and spluttering, black blood falling from his lips. He brings his fingers to his lips, dragging them away and reaching for Liam. “Shouldn’t have come,” he struggles. Theo coughs hard, lurching forward, Liam right next to him and holding him up to expel the contents of his stomach, his leg screaming at the sudden movement.

“I wasn’t going to let you get yourself killed,” Liam says. Theo sighs and leans back in Liam’s arms, his back falling against the beta’s chest. He wheezes, midnight coloured blood trailing down his chin. “Derek is almost here, Theo,” Liam explains, holding the chimera to his chest. “Can you hear it? Listen for his heartbeat.”

Theo tries. He really does. He tries as best he could given the circumstances, but all he can focus on was the rhythmic pattern of Liam’s, quick and worried. His scent is of fear, anxiousness, all the same things Theo smelled earlier.

The chimera lifts his head to find a dark figure standing in the corner of the room.

Death stares at him. Hard, unwavering, gaze tough and bone chilling. It steps closer, reaching out its hand, red claws nearing Theo’s face. He feels the air change, Death clouding his vision with the cloak that clung to its boney shoulders. _Let’s go home, Theo_, Death whispers, a claw tracing the side of Theo’s jaw. 

No. Not yet.

He wasn’t ready yet. There were things Theo needs to do before he dies. He has to tell Liam, tell him how he really feels. He needs the young boy to know how much he saved him. How much he…

“Liam,” Theo coughs, taking Liam’s hand.

“You’re okay,” Liam whimpers, voice shaking. “I’m going to get you out of here, and you’re going to go on that trip to South Africa and then to France with Malia. Then, when you get back, you and I are going on that road trip, alright?”

“I’m so – “

Liam hugs Theo close, burying his head in the chimera’s hair. “Don’t you dare apologize to me, Theo Raeken. Don’t do that to me right now.”

Theo smiles as much as he can and shakes his head, leaning it back on Liam’s shoulder. “Do you remember going to the lookout?” he asks.

“Of course, I do,” the beta whispers. “Hayden left the night before. We watched the sun come up.”

“We did,” Theo agrees. He threads his fingers through Liam’s and brushes his thumb over the boy’s knuckles. “I haven’t seen the sun come up since that morning.” Theo retches, gagging and coughing more before Liam wipes his hand to clean the blood away. “Didn’t want to watch without you.”

“Don’t say that. Please, stay with me,” Liam cries softly, rocking the two of them from their position. “They’re almost here, Theo – “

“Tell Scott I’m sorry,” the chimera begs.

“No, you don’t get to do that,” Liam snaps, pressing his nose against Theo’s jaw.

“I told you I’d fight with you,” Theo says.

Liam snorts softly and places a lingering kiss to his jaw, a single tear falling against Theo’s skin. “You’re not dying for me, remember?”

The older boy’s shoulders shrug, a small smirk still etched against his lips. He clamps his eyes shut, inhaling raggedly. “You’re not dying for me either, kid.” Time stands frozen for Theo, frozen with the boy behind him, holding him in his arms, crying silently for the chimera to pull through. “Liam.”

“I’m right here,” he answers, kissing Theo’s temple.

“Love you,” Theo sighs as he glances up, grip falling limp in Liam’s hand. There’s no stopping the tears from falling from his eyes, his throat aching and cheeks flaming. He can’t stop the wobble of his bottom lip and the choked off sob that echoes too loudly in the cell.

Liam barks a loud laugh through his own tears and noses the boy’s head. “I fucking love you too, you asshole.” Theo feels Liam tighten his grip on his hand, probably trying to take some of Theo’s pain. His strength fleeting, Theo pulls away and shakes his head.

That’s when it hits him.

Theo isn’t in any pain.

“I can’t – “ Liam chokes, trying again to take something that doesn’t exist, putting his hands on any available spot of skin. “Theo, I can’t take it – I can’t – your pain – “

“I know, I’m not in pain anymore,” Theo says slowly, coughing again against his will.

“Don’t you fucking do that shit,” Liam warns. “As soon as we get out of here, I’m taking you to Melissa, and after that, I’m going to kiss you when you can stand on your own.”

Theo smiles, turning his head to snuggle against Liam’s collar. “That sounds nice,” he replies. His chest feels heavier, heavy where Liam holds him, heavy on the concrete floor, heavy.

“Please, please,” Liam begs, his cries getting harder. “I can’t lose you again. Please stay, stay with me. Keep your eyes open for me, Theo, keep them open.”

He doesn’t remember much, but Theo knows what death feels like. And he knows what it’s like when Death stares him in the face and offers its hand.

“…Almost here. Open your fucking eyes, Theo, god dammit.”

He remembers the way Death makes him feel safe, comforted; ready. A soft hand to guide him, eyes calming.

“Fucking hell, don’t do this. Not yet, not yet, not yet.”

He remembers Death and its easy smile, beckoning him back home.

“I love you.”

Theo remembers Death, and how it freezes time. But Liam still burn, burn, burns like he always does.

* * *

** Where’s My Love - SYML **

As stupid as he was, Theo wasn’t going to let anyone stand in his way after he woke up. He thought it would be different, Liam next to him, Scott thankful he was alive. The entire pack there to greet him and hug him like the movies made it seem. 

Really, it was nothing like that.

When Theo wakes up, he’s alone. Not just alone in the room, he’s alone in the building. No heart beats, no hushed conversations. Nothing. It wasn’t until he climbs off the table at Deaton’s, reaches for a pair of clothes sitting on the chair against the wall, and limps out the front doors, he’s bombarded by Scott and Stiles hoarding him back in the building.

Another two hours later, Melissa arrives, making sure the chimera is healing. And he is healing, slowly but surely. Once Melissa clears him, Liam finally shows up. With one look, the younger boy bounds across the room and throws him arms around Theo, burying his face against his neck.

“Fuck, don’t ever do that to me again,” Liam breathes, holding Theo close. “Thank god you’re okay.” The chimera winds his arms around Liam’s body, his anxiety calming. Theo can’t even put up a fight when Liam begs to take him home, tears streaks down his cheeks and dark circles under his eyes.

Liam, after warding off the rest of the group, helps Theo to the truck, opening the door and supporting the chimera’s body as he climbs in. Theo grunts in pain, his jaw dropping when his leg brushes against the door.

“Come on, you’re almost there,” the younger boy encourages. Theo scowls at him but accepts his help nonetheless.

Pulling out of the parking lot and onto the road, Liam flips the air on along with the radio, soft music filling the car.

“Thank you,” Theo whimpers, his hand clutching at the door with white knuckles. Liam smiles softly and reaches over, taking Theo’s left hand. “Liam, I’m fine – “

“Shut up and let me take it,” the beta snips. Theo rolls his eyes and sighs, too exhausted to argue. With a tight grip, Liam takes his pain, exhaling harshly. “Jesus, Theo,” he groans. “You’re in too much pain. We should have stayed at Deaton’s.”

Theo scoffs and pushes Liam’s hand away. “Just take me home. I’m fine.”

“You’re not fine, though,” the boy replies.

“I said I’m fucking fine, Liam,” Theo barks.

Liam doesn’t say anything until they reach the apartment complex. The car ride is awkward and tense, neither wolf backing down. Theo doesn’t understand, doesn’t grasp why Liam is acting like a protective mother. Well, he knows what he said back in the holding cell, and he remembers what Liam told him. The thought that Theo could wake up and everything work out was a far away dream.

When Liam finally parks the truck, Theo is already half out the door, gripping onto the door handle for balance. He ignores Liam’s protests and climbs the stairs to his front door, digging around for his keys. Behind him, Liam appears and reaches around to unlock the door, rolling his eyes at Theo’s behavior.

Theo storms into his apartment, slamming the door with the boy behind it. Not seconds after, Liam bursts through it, following Theo. “Don’t walk away from me,” the beta hisses. “Fuck, you can’t just do shit like that!”

Theo turns around and glares at the boy, eyes bright and shining. “You don’t get to tell me what I can and can’t do. We both know how that ends,” Theo says petulantly. He probably sounds like a child, but so does Liam. He rips off the jacket that he had wrapped around his shoulders and tosses it over the back of his couch.

“Theo, I’m not trying to be that person, but you just woke up after six days of being unconscious,” Liam explains, chest still heaving. “Melissa wouldn’t let me or Scott near the building because we’d be able to hear everything and freak out of something happened.”

“Then why are you so worried? I woke up, I’m fine,” he replied.

Liam drops his shoulders and growls. “We didn’t think you were going to make it, you asshole! I didn’t know if your heart was going to stop.”

“My sister’s heart, actually.”

The beta looks defeated, smells it too. But it doesn’t stop him from sighing and saying, “It did stop. Twice.”

Theo snaps his head toward Liam and hears the steady beat of Liam’s heart. “No one told me that,” he says dumbly. “They didn’t –“

“No one told you because I asked them not to,” Liam answers. Theo fish mouths for a moment before closing his lips in a straight line. “Yeah, I told them not to say anything because I knew if they did, you might do something stupid.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” Theo scoffs.

“Jesus, you just don’t know when to stop yourself, do you?” Liam snaps. “It couldn’t be after you killed Scott, or tried to kill everyone else, or even the time you went to hell and I brought you back. Why can’t you just stop?”

“I saved your ass!” Theo yells. “Stiles was going to get himself killed.” He paces around the small area, hands thrown in the air despite the burning against the resonating needle wound. “What did you want me to do?”

Liam steps forward and shoves Theo’s shoulders. “I didn’t want you to get yourself hurt in the process.”

Theo scoffs and rolls his eyes. “Oh, so Stiles is the pawn here?”

“No, just – “

“Just what?! Why is it I can’t save someone else without you yelling at me, and I can’t save myself without someone else yelling me?”

Liam drops his head and groans loudly. “I don’t want anyone else to die, Theo!”

Theo storms over to Liam and points his finger against the boy’s chest, eyes flaring, chest heaving. “You don’t get to decide who dies and who doesn’t. You can’t save everyone, you need to get used to that.” He backs away, starts heading for the door. “I should’ve never come back.”

“Jesus, Theo. Run then, run away from your problems like you’re used to,” the boy screams. “Run away from me like what you said meant nothing!”

“Fuck you, fucking prick!” Theo shouts, feeling his claws seep into his palms as he turns his back, slamming his fist against the brick wall. He snarls a low growl as footsteps head towards him, his mouth opening to let his fangs breathe, nostrils flaring as it takes in the heavy scent getting closer. The beta threads his fingers through Theo’s shirt and yanks him backwards, forcing him to turn around.

“You don’t get to just walk away like that,” Liam hisses, still gripping the chimera’s shirt. “You’d think after I – “

“Don’t you dare finish that sentence.”

Theo knew his tone was a bit too much, but it didn’t matter. Liam would get the message. The warning.

Its just, Theo knew what he was getting in to. He knew by giving Liam just the slightest bit of leeway, the beta would take it, and run with it. The boy hadn’t changed a bit since Theo met him that first night. He was eager, too eager sometimes. If he had some slack, Liam would take off, rambling through theories and yelling at unlucky victims. And this situation proved no different.

Besides, back in the holding cell, the wolfsbane poisoning was beginning to seep into the veins that led to Theo’s heart. Forgive him for wanting Liam to know how he felt before it took over completely. Death was on his front porch and he didn’t care whether or not Theo confessed the way he felt. Death was waiting for him slowly, inching closer and grazing his claws across Theo’s cheek. It took everything he had to muster the strength to pull Liam’s hand in his and kiss his knuckles, look up at the beta with tears in his eyes and tell him, “I love you.”

Liam lets the boy go and groans loudly in frustration. “You think this is easy for me, Theo? Watching you – watching you _die_?”

Theo reels, throwing a sharp punch to Liam’s jaw. The beta is flung backwards, clutching at his chin, waiting for it to heal. He watches as a few drops of blood make it to Liam’s shirt.

“Get over yourself, Dunbar,” Theo says now. “You’ve watched me die more than enough times now. You’d think after all this time, you’d be used to it.” Liam snaps his head up at the chimera and scoffs.

“Me?” Liam shakes his head. Theo nods and presses the heel of his palm against his shoulder after it flares in pain. The beta laughs. “Yeah, you’re right,” he seethes. “I put you in the ground, and I brought you right back, and I’d do the same thing over again if I had to. But telling me to get over myself?” Liam growls low in his throat. “Yeah, I’ll do that once you stop acting like some self-righteous idiot excuse for a human being!”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

Liam groans and throws his hands up. “You wouldn’t be hurt right now if you just stopped trying to save everyone.” The boy stops and takes a steadying breath. “I remember exactly what you said to me in that cell, and I know you do too. Why can’t you just acknowledge it so I don’t have to sit here wondering if it was just a fever dream.”

Did he just.

He thinks Theo didn’t mean it, what he said.

Well, alright then.

It takes him a moment, but as soon as Theo has his feet planted on the ground, his shoulders squaring and relaxed, he smirks.

Theo takes his hand away from his shoulder and slowly stalks his way to Liam who stumbles back and stops once his back hits the wall. The chimera doesn’t stop until he’s in Liam’s space, hands bracketing the boy’s face, his chest pressed against Liam’s. He inhales slowly, letting it out the same way. His shoulder aches for the slightest moment before it relaxes.

“You and I both know I didn’t stay for Scott, or Stiles, even Derek for that matter,” he spoke slow, dripping honey. “You know who I stayed for. You knew what I was doing when I pushed you all away. You know I was trying to save you.” Theo stops, debating. “You could have held off the hunters while Scott or Derek looked for me, Liam. So why was it you coming to save me? Why is it always the two of us saving each other?” 

The change in Liam was immediate and they both knew it too. His scent changed from anger, to frustration, over to guilt, and finally to arousal. The beta staggered, hands finding no purchase on the brick wall behind him. He breathed unevenly, a light flush working up his cheeks.

“I remember what I said to you, Liam,” Theo says calmly. “I remember closing my eyes and waking up at Deaton’s.”

“Theo…” Liam slurs, warns.

Theo leans in closer, one hand finding a way to Liam’s waist. His lips barely brushed over the boy’s earlobe, soft enough that when he spoke, his breath would coat the skin.

“You touched me, just my face,” the chimera starts, the soft skin of his lips suddenly finding Liam’s earlobe. “Told me you were going to get me out of there and kiss me once I could walk again.”

Liam shuddered.

Theo presses a lingering kiss below Liam’s ear. “I’m walking just fine now, but you haven’t fulfilled your end of the bargain.”

“You told me you loved me,” the beta whispers.

“You told me you loved me too.”

“Fuck you,” Liam sneers.

“Ask nicely, and maybe – “

Theo can’t finish his sentence because he’s suddenly been flipped back against the wall, and he’s got an armful of Liam, pressing their mouths together forcefully. He grips the front of Liam’s shirt, covered in just a hint of the boy’s blood, and holds him tightly, his free hand gripping the front of the beta’s trousers, fingers between his belt and his skin, reigning him that much closer.

“You fucking asshole,” Liam gasps, breaking apart for air as Theo works down the side of his neck. Theo yanks his belt open and shoves his hand down the front of Liam’s jeans, slipping right through the clothing and around the boy’s cock. “I can’t believe you’d do that to me,” he says now, his nimble fingers finding Theo’s hair and pulling him up for another thorough kiss.

Theo lets Liam do what he wants with his mouth. Their lips slicking together, tongues sliding in motions that make Theo’s head fuzzy. He works his hand along Liam’s cock, grinding his hips forward with every stroke down. Its hot, heady, frenzied. But honestly, Theo didn’t expect much less than that.

“I couldn’t hear your heartbeat anymore,” Theo groans, flinging Liam against the wall once more before pushing his hips down roughly. He bites at Liam’s neck, never letting his fangs through to pierce the skin, but hard enough to bruise tomorrow. “I thought you’d gotten yourself killed.”

“They said you were already dead,” Liam hisses, unbuckling Theo’s own jeans and pulling his cock free. “_Fuck_, you so fucking beautiful,” he whines, stroking him with a loose fist and staring at the older boy in awe.

Theo gasps at the sudden contact but busies himself with Liam’s mouth, licking into him and biting at his bottom lip. The beta cries out when Theo’s hand pulls one leg up onto his hip and grabs at the fleshy part of the boy’s ass. “I couldn’t,” Theo whispers, arching against Liam’s hand. “Couldn’t lose you again.”

With Theo whispering filthy things in his ear, and with the chimera constantly rubbing him and gripping his ass tightly, Liam comes in Theo’s hand with a shout, eyes flaring honey brown, and bites down on the chimera’s shoulder. From then on, its Liam whining pathetically in Theo’s ear until he follows, coming with a whimper.

Once the two had calmed down, and successfully made it to a sitting position on the floor with their jeans still undone, Theo leans his head back against the wall.

“I could hear your heartbeat in the tunnels,” he speaks, softly, gently. Liam scoots closer, his shoulder touching Theo’s. “Could feel how scared you were, how worried. And then I just stopped hearing it. I don’t remember when it stopped, I just couldn’t…”

“Thought I lost you for good,” the beta whispers, fighting back tears. “They told me they’d already given you the poison – “

“The vial on the floor was the antidote,” Theo responds.

Liam nods, “I heard Monroe talking about it. I poured it down your throat as soon as I got to you.”

Theo shakes his head and clears his throat, willing his mind to change the subject to fight off tears of his own.

“When I was younger, Tara used to squeeze my hand three times to tell me she loved me,” Theo interrupts. He reaches over and grabs Liam’s hand, threading their fingers.

Liam scoffs beside him and shakes his head. “What are you even talking about sometimes? We can yell and scream at each other, punch each other even, and then share mutual orgasms. How are you so quick?”

“I’ve been doing it for months. To you.”

“Wait, you what?”

Liam looks confused, guilty. He looks down at their joined hands and exhales deeply. Theo squeezes. Once. Twice. Three times.

“I meant what I said in the cell,” Theo says, voice wavering. “I meant every word.”

Liam brings their hands to his lips, kissing Theo’s knuckles just like he did to the beta back in the holding cell. He holds it while he slides his body into Theo’s lap, knees bracketing the chimera’s hips. He smiles, squeezes Theo’s hand once, twice, three times. Leaning in and kissing Theo softly, Liam grins and kisses him on the tip of the nose.

Theo snuffles a quiet laugh and wraps his arms around Liam’s waist, holding him against his chest, feeling their heartbeats, the heat of their skin, their scents mixing within the air. Liam tucks his face into the crook of his neck, nose brushing along the underside of his jaw.

Liam settles, breathing deeply and letting his heart calm. Theo runs his hands across the expanse of his back still covered by his flimsy shirt. The chimera noses against Liam’s hair and waits for him to lift his head. Once he does, Theo captures the boy’s lips.

He reaches for the hem of Liam’s shirt, slowly working it over his head and tossing it somewhere on the floor. Theo’s hands find their way to Liam’s chest, fingertips tracing over each crevice, each bump, over each nipple.

Liam winds his arms around Theo’s neck, licking into his mouth, savoring each swipe of his tongue. While the chimera places his hands against his hips, Liam grinds down, swallowing Theo’s moan.

When a star dies, their entire anatomy condenses into a small ball of energy, pulled as tight as a rubber band to its furthest point, waiting for something to break it. Most stars that litter our galaxy takes millions of years to die. A star will burn all of the hydrogen fuel it possesses, expanding to become a red giant. At that point, a red giant could reach a size across that could swallow Mercury or Venus, two planets.

The death of a star brings different phases that light up the night sky. The red giant star is big enough that one hundred of our suns could fit inside. It is a bright, fiery red ball of heat that burns with the same passion in which it was formed. Condensed, swollen energy of helium that has been fused into carbon, and then again from carbon to oxygen, burning in the galaxy. A ball of fire and swollen fury, passionate even.

After the red giant, comes the white dwarf, a star the size of earth. Light blue, pure white. The oxygen of the star fuses into iron, and the star takes its last breath as it leaves behind a dense, earth size remnant of a star.

Kissing Liam, Theo feels like a star, being strung so tightly he could burst at any moment. He feels like a red giant star, burning and burning with fury and fire, with more power than a hundred suns. He felt like the white dwarf, bright, burning light the size of earth.

Their lips gentle brushes every few seconds. Theo holds Liam’s waist, thumbs digging into the supple flesh of his hips lightly, while Liam craddles Theo’s face between his hands, moving his hands slowly to the base of the boy’s neck and down to his chest, gripping the front of his shirt. Liam lets out a long sigh from his nose, pulling Theo to his body, not even a millimeter of space within their bodies.

** I Love You - RIOPY **

Theo pulls away to breathe and yanks Liam’s shirt, pulling it over his head and tossing it to the ground. “Is this okay?” he whispers as he leans forward and kisses the milky column of Liam’s throat.

Liam whimpers when Luka let his teeth graze and nip at a stretch of the skin. “Perfectly okay,” he croaks. Theo chuckles against his skin and lathes his tongue over the bite mark he’d just made.

“What do you want, Liam?” Theo asks. He kisses the beta again, the wet slip of their lips falling into a rhythm. “I asked what you wanted,” he presses when the beta doesn’t respond. Liam grunts and stands, pulling Theo with him.

“Theo, please don’t start something you don’t want to finish,” Liam warns, his tone gruff and grainy. Theo pulls away from where he was lathing over another love bite on his neck and stares at him, appalled.

“Liam,” Theo whispers, leaning back in to place a gentle kiss to his lips. “I’m not one to start something and leave it unfinished.” He trails his fingers to Liam’s pants, sliding them and his boxers over the swell of the beta’s hips, down his thighs. Theo leaves kisses as he leans down, slipping the jeans off.

Theo stands again and rips off his t-shirt, discarding it with Liam’s. He leans in to kiss his boy before giving Liam’s cock three quick pulls to get him hard. Theo pushes his own jeans and boxers down his legs, running his fingertips up the back of Liam’s thighs. With both of them completely naked, Theo moves closer, lining up their groins and pressing forward slowly, earning a low growl from the younger boy.

“I want to make you _writhe_,” Theo growls into his mouth.

“_Fucking shit_.”

Theo pulls Liam in for a rough kiss by the ends of his hair, both exhaling through their noses harshly as they each try to move their lips together. It turns wet, tongues sliding against each other’s with clicks that seem to echo in the room. Theo bites down on Liam’s bottom lip, then kissing over it to sooth the skin. Liam whins in the back of his throat.

Little by little, Theo guides Liam through his apartment and towards his bed, unmade and sheets strewn about on top. He sits down gingerly, Liam humming as he readjustes his stance, following Theo. The beta brakes the kiss for a moment while he motions for Theo to move back on the bed while he climbs in his lap, Liam’s knees and thighs bracketing the chimera’s hips.

“Such a mix, little wolf,” Theo chides when Liam swivels his hips just so, their cocks sliding together with rough friction.

Liam leans down to kiss Theo roughly, sliding his tongue against his bottom lip and finding his tongue, sucking it into his own mouth with vigor. The older boy grips Liam’s hips tightly, claws barely beginning to show.

Suddenly, Theo feels it getting too heated, with Liam wriggling in his lap with purpose and fire laced between each kiss. It begins to feel like at the rate they’re going, neither one of them are going to last very long, nor would it be meaningful.

Theo’s fingers card through the boy’s hair and pulls back, catching his breath and trying to form coherent thoughts as to explain stopping.

“What’s wrong?” Liam questions quickly, fear and guilt scenting through the room. “Was I – I mean, I’m sorry. I just jumped you – I should have stopped –“

“Shut up, you idiot,” Theo says. His hands frame Liam’s face and pull him into a softer kiss, one that has no urgency. “I just have to know this is us working towards something.”

Liam sighs, smiling as he kisses the chimera. “We’re going to have a very long, painful talk,” he replies sweetly. “But yes, this is something we’re going to figure out.” Theo lets out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding.

“I’m so fucking in love with you,” Theo whispers, sliding his hands to Liam’s waist and wrapping his arms around the boy. “So, so in love with you,” he says even softer, his voice cracking as his bottom lip trembled.

Liam, gaze never leaving Theo’s, smiles and touches the tips of his fingertips to Theo’s lips. He pushes the fringe away from the older boy’s forehead with a soft hand. “Raise it by a million,” he slurs.

“I’m going to make love to you,” Theo says quietly, kissing him once more.

“Fuck me like you love me then,” Liam whispers, out of breath.

The breath catches in Theo’s throat, letting Liam kiss him for a moment. When the boy grounds his hips down against Theo’s erection, he tightens his grip on the boy’s hips and flips them, attaching his lips to his neck and thrusting forward just enough to get a working friction on both of their cocks.

Theo takes Liam apart the way you simply breathe, gently, softly. He acquaints himself with Liam’s body, leaving love bites down the expanse of his torso, around his thighs while he gave the boy his mouth where he was needed, swallowing him down. He watches the way Liam’s body responds so beautifully to the attention in different areas, in total awe of him.

Theo opens him slowly, wanting to savor the way Liam feels around his tongue and fingers: heat, so much heat that his mind swims drunkenly with it. He gives Liam’s body the tender touches it needs to relax enough to be ready for him.

When Theo pushes in slow, he makes sure to lay the boy on his back and watch as the moment happened for each of them, taking notice if something seemed off. It’s soft, slow, sensual. Passionate, as one might call it.

It was no surprise when Theo feels the ache in his throat, and a sting behind his eyes. A tear falls to Liam’s nose, but he simply thumbs Theo’s cheekbone and brings him closer to place a sweet kiss to his lips. The moment Liam’s own eyes betray him, filling with tears, Theo slows his pace and rocks deeper, pulling noises from the back of Liam’s throat he didn’t know were possible, all the while whispering _I love you_ over and over like it was a mantra of his existence. At that moment, though, it did feel like it was the only force of life that flowed through his veins.

As Theo feels the familiar heat resonate in his belly, he brings his hand to Liam’s cock, guiding him over the edge. The boy tenses and comes with Theo’s name on his tongue. He slows, letting Liam ride out the aftershocks, body still trembling with it. When Theo does come, he feels it in his toes, his aching calf, his shoulder, his head, up to his ears. He feels like a star, bursting into flames and reeling.

It was spiritual in every way making love should be. That moment would be permanently branded into Theo’s memory for years to come. Tears were shed, and love was declared, but not once, not one single time, did Theo ever want to be anywhere else but in that very second, time frozen.

After, Theo pulls out and lays on his back, catching his breath. He feels his heart swell in his chest when Liam leans over him and drapes his arms around his middle, resting his head against his chest. Their pulses echo in their ears.

Theo wraps his arms around Liam but furrows his brow when the boy lifts his head to place a lingering kiss to his chest, right over his heart. “What are you doing?” he wonders, kissing the top of Liam’s head.

The beta smiles sheepishly and replies, “Your heart beat is my favorite to listen to,” while tracing lines around his pec. A moment later, Theo’s eyes well with tears once more, but Liam was right there to wipe them away.

Later, when they calm down, Theo stumbles to the bathroom to retrieve a wet flannel and cleans the both of them free of remnants from before. Liam yanks the duvet up from the floor and throws it over their bodies, cuddling back to his place on Theo’s chest.

“I love you,” Theo whispers, barely even a sound. Liam leans up and nods.

“Raise it by a million,” the beta responds, louder than Theo’s confession. Theo pulls him back to his body for another kiss, then adjusts him to their original position. “Raise it by a fucking million,” he repeats, his heartbeat strong, steady, truthful.

Time is still, frozen, but Liam burn, burn, burns next to him.


End file.
